As Target prepares to open its first stores in San
Francisco, the national retailer is increasing its giving to local LGBT
organizations.

The company upped its donations to the LGBT Community Center,
which is marking its 10th year and has launched a $1 million fundraising drive.
Target donated $50,000 toward the anniversary campaign and is sponsoring the
center's annual Soiree gala later this month at the $15,000 level.

Target first gave toward the event in 2011, and also donated
$20,000 toward the center's education initiative last year with the San
Francisco Unified School District.

Center Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe
told the Bay Area Reporter the organization
is "very pleased" to have Target as a major donor this year.

"They have made a pretty significant investment across
a spectrum of needs," she added.

Molly Snyder, a
spokeswoman for the company, told the B.A.R. that it is too early
to disclose Target's full plans for LGBT giving in 2012.

In an emailed response to a request for comment, Snyder only
confirmed that the company is "honored" to be a presenting sponsor
for the center's March 2012 Soiree as well as its 10th anniversary season.

Target's first donation to the LGBT center was in 2000,
added Snyder, "before they opened their doors."

"At Target, we're proud of our long history of
supporting the LGBT community through giving, volunteerism and event
partnership and participation. Target was one of the San Francisco LGBT Center's
first corporate sponsors," wrote Snyder.

The company has also been a major corporate sponsor for Out
and Equal Workplace Advocates. Since 2010 Target has been a presenting sponsor
for the San Francisco-based LGBT group's Workplace Summits.

The donations to the Bay Area LGBT groups came as the
Minneapolis-based company found itself the target of an LGBT backlash two years
ago for donating $150,000 to Minnesota Forward, an independent expenditure
committee at the time backing an anti-gay candidate for governor.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel's initial defense of the donation to the business-friendly group
further inflamed LGBT activists, some of whom called for a boycott of the
company.

The contretemps raised questions among San Francisco
officials, who at the time were considering proposals for Target stores at the
Metreon complex South of Market and a former Mervyn's store on Geary Boulevard
at Masonic.

Steinhafel later apologized and promised to review how the
company decides to make financial contributions. In a letter to his employees
that summer, Steinhafel wrote, "Let me be very clear, Target's support of
the GLBT community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our
company."

Later revelations of donations to other anti-gay politicians
added to the controversy. In response, Target created a policy committee to
review and guide its political donations.

Its first meeting in 2011 to gather input was in San
Francisco with representatives from various local and national LGBT groups,
though it did not disclose who was at the meeting.

The company garnered more bad press in the gay media last
spring when it sued a San Diego activist group supportive of same-sex marriage
in an attempt to prevent its paid canvassers from approaching shoppers leaving
Target stores. A judge ruled the canvassers could be at the stores but had to
stay 30 feet from the entrance.

The company's actions also led Lady Gaga
to renege on her deal with Target to sell a special
edition of her Born This Way CD. As part of the contract talks,
the singer had pushed the retailer to increase its giving to LGBT charities,
according to an interview she gave to Billboard magazine.

In a separate interview with the publication, Target Vice
President of Public Relations Dustee Tucker Jenkins
disclosed the company had committed to donate at
least half a million dollars to LGBT groups in 2011.

Before center officials agreed to team up with Target, Rolfe
said they looked into, and were satisfied by, the company's new giving
policies. Despite the hit to its reputation, Target continues to be looked upon
favorably by many LGBT shoppers, added Rolfe.

"They made a commitment to address the criticisms that
were made," said Rolfe. "They are deeply engaged in the LGBT community
and want to look at making a strong relationship with the local LGBT
community."

For several years the company had received perfect scores on
the national Human Rights Campaign's annual report on best places for LGBT
people to work. But after the national LGBT group began asking about
transgender health coverage policies, Target's ranking took a hit.

The company earned an 85 out of 100 score on HRC's 2012
Corporate Equality Index. It lost points for not offering transgender-inclusive
health insurance coverage as well as not providing the same "soft
benefits," such as bereavement leave and employee discounts, to same-sex
couples as it does to heterosexual couples.

Target expects to open its first store within San
Francisco's city limits at the Metreon in October and plans to have the Geary
location open before the 2013 Christmas shopping season. Its closest locations
outside the city are in Colma and San Bruno.

LGBT activists welcome seeing Target's corporate giving
benefit local agencies, but they also add the company's donations do not mean
it won't face criticisms for any antigay moves or policies going forward.

"I think the center is a great San Francisco
institution and it is deserving of corporate America's support. And if
corporate America wants to support its work, I am happy the center is getting
those contributions," said Rafael Mandelman, a gay local Democratic Party official who joined the center's board
last year. "I don't think that in any way means activists in the LGBT
community are not going to continue to hold those corporations
accountable."

Gay GOPer Jason P. Clark is running against Assemblyman
Tom Ammiano.

Gay Republican runs against Ammiano

A gay Republican Party official has decided to take on
openly gay state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano
(D-San Francisco) this year as he seeks re-election to a third and final term
in the Legislature's lower body.

Jason P. Clark, 31,
a member of the Republican County Central Committee and the local party's
volunteer general counsel, pulled papers Tuesday to enter the race.

The vice chair of the local chapter of Log Cabin Republicans,
a group for LGBT GOPers, Clark said he decided to run against Ammiano when it
became clear the progressive Democrat would otherwise be unopposed this year.

"I think people in San Francisco really deserve a
choice and a meaningful choice between two candidates," said Clark about
his decision to enter the race. "Given everything going on now with this
state, we can't afford to send the same people back to cause the same
problems."

The southern California native moved to the Bay Area in 1999
to attend UC Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in political science. He earned
his law degree from USF's law school and now has a solo practice.

He has lived in San Francisco for the last eight years and
last year was appointed to fill a vacancy on the local Republican Party's
oversight panel. In addition to his Assembly campaign, Clark will be seeking to
be elected to his central committee seat on the June primary ballot.

It is the first time Clark, who is single, has run for
elective office. While likely to win his seat on the party committee, Clark has
little chance of unseating Ammiano in the fall.

Democrats have a clear voter advantage over Republicans in
San Francisco. And most GOP candidates gain little traction with the public or
the press; the city's only Republican officeholder is BART board member James
Fang.

Clark said he plans to get his message across using social
media, Internet radio stations, and Facebook. He is also working on launching a
campaign website.

"I hope to reach out and talk to as many voters as I
can," said Clark. "I find when I talk to voters, even if we don't
agree on political affiliation, there are a number of issues we do agree
upon."

He is the third gay Republican to run for state Assembly
this year. In West Hollywood, Log Cabin member Brad Torgan
is running in another district Democrats are
expected to easily carry. Ralph Denney is once again running for a San Diego Assembly seat.

By virtue of their names being on the ballot, the trio will
gain perks within the state Republican Party even if they lose in November.
Chief among them is getting to name delegates to the party's convention where
they can vote on the platform.

It is a strategy Log Cabin has used in recent years to try
to exert some influence on the positions the statewide party takes. But so far
they have had limited success in striking anti-gay language from the party
platform.

In other local legislative races, gay Assemblyman Rich
Gordon (D-Menlo Park) Wednesday made his
bid for re-election to a second term official. Supporters joined him at the San
Mateo County elections department as Gordon submitted paperwork to enter the
race for the 24th Assembly District seat.

And this Friday night a $100-a-person fundraiser for gay
state Senator Mark Leno (D-San
Francisco) will take place at Castro club Trigger. After the bar had to temporarily
close last week due to a dispute over tax payments, Leno's campaign had told
the B.A.R. the March 9 event was postponed.

But the club's owner, Greg Bronstein
, sent out an invite Monday night saying not only
was the fundraiser a go, but Leno would be joined by a host of local officials.
Among those listed as attending are Mayor Ed Lee
, District Attorney
class=textexposedshow>George Gasc—n,
gay City Treasurer Jose Cisneros and gay
District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener.

Out supes back SF voting change

At Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting out members Christina
Olague (District 5) and Wiener threw their
support behind a plan to scrap ranked-choice voting for citywide elections in
San Francisco.

The charter amendment proposal from District 2 Supervisor Mark
Farrell received the necessary six votes
to be heard by the board's Rules Committee before coming back to the full board
for approval. It would then be placed on the November ballot for voters to
decide on.

"This is not a progressive or moderate issue –
this is a democratic issue," stated Farrell. "Ranked-choice voting
has confused and disenfranchised voters for nearly a decade in San Francisco,
and it is time to return to the principle of one person, one vote."

It is a scaled back version of a proposal Farrell and
District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd had
introduced that would scrap the instant voter runoff system for supervisor
races as well. The new version would only apply to races for mayor, district
attorney, sheriff, city attorney, treasurer, assessor-recorder, and public defender.

If no candidate secured a majority of votes in those
contests in the November general election, then the top two vote-getters would
face off in a December runoff. Elsbernd along with Supervisors Malia Cohen
(District 10) and Carmen Chu
(District 4) were the other three votes for the
proposed charter amendment.

District 9 Supervisor David Campos
, the board's third out member, has opposed efforts
to do away with the ranked-choice voting. He had lobbied for keeping it but
tweaking it so voters could choose more than three candidates, as they do now.

The rules
committee is expected to take up Farrell's proposal sometime in April.

Correction

Last week's Political Notebook jumped the gun on when the
Merchants of Upper Market and Castro would elect Cliff's Variety general
manager Terry Asten Bennett as its new
president. She was nominated for the post last week and the confirmation vote
will take place at the April 5 meeting. The online version of the column has
been corrected.

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings around 11
a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column
highlighted upcoming fundraisers in San Francisco for several out candidates.